Monument record MDO18034 - Maiden Castle Road Building 02406

A rectangular structure constructed within a slight terrace cut into the slope against the south side of the ditched trackway. The walls were post-built or low cill beams.

One of three rectangular buildings found in the northwest part of the excavations to the north of Maiden Castle Road undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in 1987 in advance of the Dorchester By-pass construction. They may represent the eastward expansion of a settlement area to the west of the site. The following description is abstracted from the final published report on the site (1). The numbers in square brackets refer to context numbers quoted in the report.

Structure [02406] was a rectangular structure 4m by 2.5m across, located against the southern edge of the ditched trackway. It comprised a shallow terrace which defined the south and west edge of the structure and a spread of redeposited chalk and a number of postholes which defined the north and east sides and a number of internal postholes.

Very few finds were recovered but included a range of Roman coarseware pottery and a perforated chalk object.<1>

SY 676 894 (FCE) A rapid examination of air photography suggests the presence of a number of features, including rectilinear enclosures, linear features and pits, possibly of Prehistoric or Roman date, visible in the process of being excavated to the north of Maiden Castle, c.150m northeast of Bush Road Cottages. <2>

National Record of the Historic Environment, 983909 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Wessex Archaeology, 1987, Dorchester By-pass (Excavation archive). SDO9385.

Woodward, P J and Smith, R J C, 1987, Survey and excavation along the route of the Southern Dorchester By-pass, 1986-1987 – an interim note, 79-89 (Article in serial). SDO9381.

<1> Smith, R J C et al, 1997, Excavations along the Route of the Dorchester By-pass, Dorset, 1986-8, 56-70 (Monograph). SDO9379.

<2> Miller, Andrew, 1993, RCHME: AP Primary Recording Project, 12-FEB-1993 (Unpublished document). SWX1708.

<2.1> Boyden, J R, JRB 3421: 07-8, 10, 16; JRB 3425: 16, 18-30 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20335.

Record last edited

Dec 6 2023 8:31PM